So the AllTrails directions sometimes leaves a bit to the imagination, I guess depending on your platform (iPhone, Samsung, etc). The directions I got for this trail took me to a gate & a barn. After asking some neighbors, we figured out what road I most likely needed to take & I arrived at “a trail head.” Not the one shown on the AllTrails site, but close enough. If you decide to make this trail from the spot I did, turn AT the SIGN that says “Brushy Creek Guest Ranch 1 Mile”. I didn’t go down the road to the Guest Ranch road, so don’t know if that is where AllTrails intended the directions to take me. I suspect since cell signal is hit/miss, it made my phone’s GPS off. By the way...there are few spots with good cell signal in this trail! It took me a minute to find the trail once I arrived because you have to cross the creek right away whether you go the south/west route like I did, or the south/east route. Suggest taking water shoes because water is about 2” too deep to wade wearing mid-high hiking boots & the gravel is a little rough on tender feet. Clear cold water, tho. Creek is beautiful! Trail is lightly traveled by hikers, but heavily traveled by equestrians. I saw 2 riders when I started, but NONE on the whole trail until almost back to starting point when I met about a dozen in 3 different groups heading out. Trail is pretty chewed up in spots from hooves (muddy, punched with hoof holes, etc). Take note the NPS’s idea of a “white diamond” is rather vague. Most cases it looks like they just scraped the tree bark into a diamond shape & called it good enough. There are only a few actual sign posts & one says it’s for the white diamond trail, but it actually isn’t. Don’t know what they meant there, but it’s confusing. Recommend following the trail map rather than the signs until you get around to the north swing of the loop. Didn’t try the Red Diamond trail (yet), but it’s shorter. Once you cross the 2nd creek crossing, the trail splits. One side is RED & follows the creek north-ish. I stayed on the WHITE, which took me thru a close/creepy section. If you’re lucky (& have a strong heart), maybe you’ll get to enjoy the sudden & totally unexpected chorus of a flock of hoot owls. Once you reach the primitive camp clearing next to another part of the creek, to continue, stay on the road for about a mile. The trail map says the trail goes into the woods, but it wasn’t clearly marked & there are so many new trails cut by the equestrians that it just wasn’t worth the effort to figure out. The NPS road is cool, tho. Once you get up to the top of the ridge, the trail turning left is clearly marked. At that point is where I started seeing equestrians from the Guest Ranch. You’re only about 1.5 to 2 miles back to start. Terrain is nicely varied & interesting. All in all, I enjoyed it very much & will be back to backpack/camp in the primitive area down by the creek. It’s a good trail to train/do a shakedown for longer backpacking trips.

The main trail is blazed by white diamonds. It is not the best blazing. There is also a red diamond trail that shortcuts around, I've never followed it purposefully.

For the purpose of notes, I assume hikers head south from the trailhead to start, not east.

Note 1: Look where the trail meets up with Forest Road 156A. Past that, when the trail reenters the forest, is a creek crossing. A downed tree as of a few weeks ago blocked this path. I had to walk across a downed tree to get over the brush. I did this with a pack, it shouldn't be too bad but it isn't "normal" trailing either.

Note 2: Just past that crossing from note 1, the trail splits. Taking a left, the way the white diamond sign (a little brown fiberglass "stick plank" thing about 4ft high) says to go will shortcut an unlisted trail on the map along the creek back to the beginning. This is what happened to whoever mapped this trail on here; you can see the backtrack trail. Ignore this and continue south/east to meet up with Forest Road 156 D that heads north.

Note 3: the trail splits off 156D into the woods to join up with 156D6. I attempted this "woods party" years ago but it was a brutal trek through briars I only got through with a heavy Carhart coat, work gloves, and a Kabar knife. Eventually a downed tree / brush made it impassable and I had to hike back. Check this out at your own risk, otherwise stick to 156 D until the last western leg.

Note 4: That "last western leg" is a bit easy to miss and walk past onto 156D10. If you see a big metal structure...thing...you went too far, turn around.

Probably one of Mississippi's best hidden gems. This trail is extremely well maintained and you wander through beautiful forests and see a lot of great spots to hang out in the water. Trail is a bit rough for those just beginning so I would suggest being moderately fit if you plan to hike the entire length. Start early so you won't be hiking through the night like I did, unless you're like me and enjoy a good moonlight hike.

We made a trip to hike the Clear Springs trails but a few signs said the trails were closed. We ended up hiking the Lake trail, only about a mile long. It's a nice little walk around the lake. After we hiked the lake trail we chose to deviate from the trails, since the area is small enough and getting lost would be hard to do, so we followed "Richardson Creek" for about half a mile. That made the trip a lot more interesting to us.
Our experience was ok, it would have been a lot nicer if the owner of a large Boxer would have kept his dog on a leash. While on the Lake trail his large dog charged us from behind with the intent to attack, had I not turned around sooner it would have been an awful day.
Note to fellow hikers, if this dog would have been a few feet closer it would have been a deadly day for the dog. In the woods I don't play around with a strange(rs) dog, I will defend myself with deadly force.

We did the Mill Creek Trail. There was a sign that said all trails were closed until further notice but it was in a really strange place so we weren't sure about that.

The trail (at least Mill Creek) is little more than a game trail at this point, but it's not hard to follow. I would wait until the fall when some of the brush starts dying and it's cool enough for pants. It's really overgrown; the briars were relentless.

Bugs weren't an issue with some spray. We also ended up within 20 feet of a deer.

There are some small streams. I filled a bottle from one and it was fine, but drink at your own risk.

The Clear Springs Trail is more of a trail system, currently only consisting of 3 trails (the 4th is currently closed). This was confusing for me initially.

The trails are well marked. I think some of the comments on here regarding them not being well marked may be due to the confusion of the multiple trails. The trails are for the most part well maintained and clear. However, I will say that certain sections were overgrown. All bridges intact. Plenty of water sources. I wore plenty of mosquito spray and still got destroyed by bugs, mostly chiggers. Fair amount of wildlife- box turtle, 2 water moccasins, and multiple cool insects, including a millipede. Only saw 2 mountain bikers on the trail in the 2 days I was there. There is a usage fee that you pay using the honor system. I don't know why this trail is listed as "hard"...I'm not super experienced...did the 3 open trails and found it very easy. Not very steep hills at all (not expecting much from MS).

Is the Clear Springs, Mississippi Recreation Area closed? I just looked at their website and there was a message saying that the recreation area is "closed until further notice due to plumbing issues". Anyone know if this is true? We are planning to tent camp there next week.

We tried to hike, but the trails were unclear and it was full of bugs. It was gorgeous from the car. We drove along all of the dirt and unimproved roads, but anytime we got out of the car we were assaulted by bugs. Being from TX I am a bit biased, but it is a million times better not having the bugs.

We had an amazing trip this past weekend. Brought out mtn bikes and rode about 8 miles around the park. We found ourselves on Tally's Trail and Mill Road for a bit and I would suggest hiking these instead of biking- there are many roots. We did see that Tally's was closed from in the park area. It was not closed towards the primitive area and we couldn't find another connector while trying to find the Richardson Trail, so we took it. The trails are marked and there are maps at most of the intersections. We just had a hard time finding the trails connecting once we hit the fire roads. We finally found Richardson and it is the best trail for biking. We did about 7 miles before we ran out of water, so we headed back. Found a cool creek to relax in and then carried on our way. The area is all rolling hills and the trail was cleared. The smell of pine in the backwoods in so prevalent! We hiked the Clear Springs Trail (1 mile) and took the connector to Mill Branch Trail. It was cleared for the most part and the bridges are all fixed. Its a huge park! We decided to camp by the lake, but the primitive spots were well off the beaten path. I suggest going out to the lake at night to star gaze. We could not believe how visible the stars were. We witnessed a quick meteor shower and saw the Milky Way while laying on the decks.

Nice easy trail not too far from NOLA. This definitely wasn't very challenging but there's a lot of miles to cover and plenty of off trail game trails and hills of you want to venture off the trail. The trail is very well marked. I expected it not to be having read other reviews on here but I grabbed a trail map at the trailhead and followed the wooden arrow signs and had no issues. The trail forks about 3 minutes in from the trailhead. We did the loop to the lake (stay to the right). Was very scenic. Tons of wildlife. I would definitely do this trail again. Go with plenty of day light as there is a lot of trail to cover if you have the time. Warning! Google maps will take you to the completely wrong spot. Follow directions on here and grab a paper map. Easy to find it you're not following Google.

Hiked this with a six month old Border Collie and a self professed "girlie girl" on 6/20/15. I found the trail to be ridiculously poorly marked. We ended up inadvertently doing the "closed" Mill Creek Trail and wrapped up our morning covered in poison ivy, chiggers and ticks.

The problem with the trail markings is that they are few and far between. Also, the markers for all of the "closed" trails are still there. The "official" trail markers have been supplemented with vinyl crime scene style tape in various colors. In some places, these tape markers are absurdly thick. In others, no markets of any kind are present for miles and the trail itself is barely discernible.

If I ever did Homochitto again, it would be in winter when the bugs are at bay. We encountered a small group of campers just south of the trail head but, otherwise saw no other humans on this hike. We also saw bear prints or those of a damn big dog who was overdue for a pedicure.

The trails me to have changed in recent years. On the map I downloaded, three trails were listed. Unfortunately they have since combined this trail into one. Most of "Tally Creek" is closed, and the current trail is called "Richardson Creek" trail and is between 9-10 miles. It is a very well marked and nice trail as of 5/1/15. We hiked it, but a few bikers passed us and I saw several tire marks in softer ground, and it certainly seemed bikeable. Good bridges and I only remember one fallen tree that hadn't been cleared yet. Very nice campground with clean bathrooms.

We went to check out the facilities and the trails today. I posted a few photos. Part of the trail closest to the lake is closed due to a bridge that was damaged. We had no idea until we arrived at the bridge. There weren't any signs near the swimming area, which is where we started our hike. But except for that it's a very interesting trail. I can't speak for the trails that run further away from the lake. We didn't try those out today. We will be back soon however.

Nice, well marked trails make up this trail system. There are 4 different trails ranging from 1 mile around the lake to 12 miles. All of the trails are loops. A small day use fee is paid on the honor system just passed the trailhead.

I went here with my 7 years old son for hike,really beautiful place,we didnt get to go far due to burning process the Forestry People were doing(too much smoke,everywhere),but they were super nice and friendly,let us camp anywhere we wanted ,morning was just amazing and beautiful! We still had great fun !!!

A friend and I hiked and camped along the Tally's Creek Trail which is the longest of three loop trails that interconnect. There are plenty of small creeks throughout the trail. Trail runs next to a trailer which was unappealing. Crossed over several roads. Very hilly and nice scenery throughout.

I went camping here with a couple of friends and we were all impressed. Much better biking trails than we expected around here. My friend who doesn't really bike was tired and walked part of the trails. Biking is my main form of transportation but the hills ranged from easy to difficult and I had to walk my bike up some of them too. It was a good challenge for everyone, and a nice forest to ride in. We would have liked to do more primitive camping but we settled for a camp site that didn't have close neighbors because there's really not any flat ground outside of the marked areas.

I hiked the 26 miles in the three loop trails in two days and camped out on a creek bed about halfway through the hike. It's a very scenic hike with lots of hills. Plenty of water sources around to filter and drink. Lots of deer and ticks.